Siemens (www.siemens.com) has joined the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI). As a founding member of the ISCI, Siemens entered into a two-year commitment to provide funds and volunteer time to the institute. Siemens will also sit as a voting member on the governing board.
Members of the institute will work together to develop a set of universal compliance requirements based on ISA99 and other standards. The requirements will help test and certify control systems and products, ultimately establishing an ISASecure designation. This designation is designed to identify and promote security standards compliant products and systems.
"Cyber security is one of the most critical issues for our customers in the chemical, oil and gas, and petrochemical industries," said Todd Stauffer, PCS 7 marketing manager for Siemens Energy & Automation, in a prepared statement. "The institute is globally recognized and will focus on entire automation systems, not just the components. This international, third-party review is a significant step forward."
Siemens develops, manufactures, and produces hardware and software for both factory automation and process automation, as well as for securing industrial networks. In 2004, Siemens established a dedicated security laboratory that tests the latest Microsoft security patches and virus scanner releases. The lab validates and documents secure architectures. It also publishes recommendations and guidelines for securing PCS 7 distributed control systems. In addition, Siemens is an active, voting member of the ISA99 Committee on industrial security standard development.